(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating a cloth in a flowing liquid which is capable of efficiently producing a treated material of high quality such as a dyed cloth. According to such an apparatus, when giving a flowing liquid treatment to a cloth which is set in endless, the surfaces of the cloth are reversed according to its circulation so that so called "raw folding" and "Sure in Japanese" may be controlled to a minimum. The flowing liquid treatment in this invention is for such as dyeing, washing, scouring or relaxing the cloth. "Sure in Japanese" as used in this disclosure means a friction mark on the cloth. A friction mark will appear on a silk or rayon cloth due to friction and it affects the luster of the cloth.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
For instance, as shown in FIG. 10, in a conventional apparatus for treating a cloth in a flowing liquid, an endless cloth a was set on a pool b, a conveying passage c and a pull-up reel d, and the cloth a was circulated with a flowing liquid so that a flowing liquid treatment was given to the cloth a. In the apparatus, a contact surface f of the cloth a with a periphery e of the reel d was always the same side with respect to the periphery e.
Therefore, when the apparatus gave a flowing liquid treatment to the cloth, the cloth surface f contacting the periphery e of the pull-up reel d, was damaged easily to have so called "raw folding" and "Sure in Japanese".
As the result, wrinkles of the cloth due to "raw folding" were fixed or uneveness of gloss of the cloth due to "Sure in Japanese" was occurred so that the quality of the product was lowered.
Recently, it was conventional to carry out a flowing liquid treatment with a low immerging ratio in viewpoint of saving an energy or increasing productivity. In the flowing liquid treatment with such a low immerging ratio, when the cloth was moved in the pool, it was difficult that the contact surface f with the periphery e of the pull-up reel d contacted with the liquid evenly.
Therefore, there was a problem that good effects of flowing liquid treatment such as levelling or exhausion in dyeing and also a washing effect with a water could not be obtained.
The inventor of this invention proposed Japanese patent publication Hei. 3-29906, which related to an apparatus for treating a cloth in a flowing liquid, in order to solve the above mentioned problems.
The apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 11. The apparatus comprises a pool h, a conveying passage i and a pull-up reel j. The pool has a bottom g which is curved in a shape of U-letter to present a spiral around a vertical axis, and the bottom g is formed to be gradually lowered from an upper end to a lower end and flat. The conveying passage is formed to connect a lower end thereof to the upper end of the pool h. The pull-up reel is arranged at an upper position above the lower end of the pool h. A cloth k is set on the pool h, the conveying passage i and the pull-up reel j endlessly so as to be circulated with a flowing liquid. The apparatus has the following functions.
Namely, as shown in FIG. 11, the endless cloth k is set on the pull-up reel j, the conveying passage i and the pool h in such a state that the cloth is twisted once like a Mobius band. As the result, the cloth is conveyed with a flowing liquid on the conveying passage i in a state of non-twist and discharged in the pool h at the lower end of the conveying passage i. Thus, the discharged cloth k is conveyed in the pool h (In FIG. 11, the state of movement of the cloth in the pool is shown with phantom lines.) and thereafter the cloth is pulled up by means of the pull-up reel j and then conveyed again in the conveying passage i.
The cloth k is, thus, circulated in the apparatus. Since the bottom g of the pool h is curved in the shape of U-letter to present a spiral around a vertical axis, the cloth k moving on the curved bottom g moves in such a state that the contact surface n contacting the periphery m of the pull-up reel j faces the bottom g. Therefore, the contact surface n of the cloth contacting the periphery m can be turned upside down smoothly and easily while the endless cloth circulates in a cycle of circulation.
As the result, it becomes possible to evade an occurrence of problems such as fixing of wrinkles due to "raw folding" or uneveness of gloss due to "Sure in Japanese".
Further, even if the cloth is treated with a low immerging ratio, the front and reverse sides of the cloth could be turned. Therefore, both of the front and reverse sides of the cloth moving in the pool may meet the treating liquid evenly and as the result, levelling, exhausion and a washing effect with a water can be graded up greatly.
By the way, the above mentioned function and advantages may be obtained to a certain extent in the case that the apparatus is used for a cloth which is close in weave.
However, where the apparatus is used for a cloth which is loose in weave, the cloth cannot be moved smoothly in the pool as it is tangled and it is not practically possible to achieve the expected function and advantages. Because, the cloth, which is loose in weave, tends to be involved easily in a turbulent flow of the treating liquid flowing down on the bottom of the pool since the bottom is formed flat, and as the result tangling of the cloth, which is conveyed in the pool of U-letter, occurs frequently.
It is assumed that tangling of the cloth may be occurred in the following steps.
When the cloth and the treating liquid q flow down on the pool, the cloth k tends to close to the outer side of the bottom as is shown with the reference symbol o in FIG. 12, due to a centrifugal force. Although the treating liquid q flowing on the bottom also moves to close to the outside of the bottom, the liquid is intercepted or dammed up by the inside portion of the cloth which is close to the outside, and as the result the liquid q has to be flown through a space p which is positioned inside (See FIG. 13). Therefore, the cloth o close to the outside of the bottom and the liquid q are almost separated.
When the cloth and the liquid are separated, it is difficult that the cloth o closing to the outside flows down due to friction between the cloth and an outer wall portion r (See FIGS. 12 and 13) and also the bottom g (See FIGS. 12 and 13) so as to occur a lump s of the cloth on the outside of the bottom (See FIG. 12). When the lump s is formed on the outside, the following cloth t changes its direction to the inside of the bottom as it is easy to move (See FIG. 12), and as the result the cloth tends to flow down in curving in S-letter while riding on the flowing liquid. The following cloth portion curved and folded tends to move proceeding the outside cloth portion which is hard to move. However, since the outside cloth portion functions as brake, the following cloth portion stops and also forms a lump of cloth u on the inside of the bottom (See FIG. 14).
When a lump of the cloth is thus occurred on the inside of the bottom, the following cloth portion v changes its direction of flow outwardly due to a centrifugal force so as to move smoothly, and then curves in an S-letter so as to approach the outside of the bottom (See FIG. 14). Thereafter, the cloth takes the same movements repeatedly as it flows, and becomes a lump of the cloth in the bottom to form a zigzag.
In addition to this, the cloth moving down with the liquid flowing inside the bottom, tends to be in a floating state, and therefore it sometimes happened that the following cloth portion goes and slips under a floating cloth portion w, as shown in FIG. 15.
With the reasons that the cloth makes a zigzag and slips under the floating cloth portion, the cloth forms tangles y as shown by solid lines in FIG. 11.